


In which Regina has a dragon in her life

by TwoPointNo



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Dragon Queen - Freeform, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 07:04:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11375067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwoPointNo/pseuds/TwoPointNo
Summary: Regina's life if rather than become the Evil Queen she had had a very good friend by her side.





	In which Regina has a dragon in her life

**Author's Note:**

> Hello peeps, I wanted to do a series re imagining Regina's life (and OUAT) if some things had been different. All mistakes are mine but the characters aren't, and I don't remember season one that sharply really ,so maybe something's are...off. This will be the first work on this series if I ever get to writing another. Enjoy :

We can’t fix Regina Mills’ whole life, because would Regina Mills be Regina Mills if all had gone well? If her mother had been the proud carrier of a heart, if her father had been the proud owner of a bit of courage, if she had let a little princess and her horse pass by? So, we cannot touch the very foundation of her… but what we can do is deal her a better hand of cards down the road, so let’s retell the story of Regina after she met Mal.

 

In this new, improved version of the facts Regina still stumbles into a castle unaware of what she will find and Mal still approaches her scoffing, and lingers too close to her for an unsettling amount of time. And yes, Maleficent reluctantly follows the small woman she finds so interesting and yes, she goes through with a ritual she doesn’t believe in for an unknown pull in her gut that drives her to just _do as Regina says_ and yes, she regains her ability to transform into a mighty dragon but she does not choose to repay Regina with a show of vengeance and a sleeping curse, she asks Regina to drink some tea with her and gives her the gift of sage advice.

In any version of her story there are also some things Maleficent cannot ever be rid of, the years she spent hell bent on destroying Briar Rose being one of them, she tells Regina this story over stale tea and staler biscuits. The small woman is still The Queen, raised by the formidable Cora Mills, and she tries to be a _lady_ about it but the taste, even more than the story, unsettles her and she leaves the castle as swiftly as she came, feeling disenchanted. If a mighty dragon can fail and abandon her endeavor, be so weak as to leave her biscuits grow old in her kitchen, then what is the point of it all?

Unfortunately, Leopold still likes to remind her what the point is. Later that night, sitting in a tub as her handmaidens carefully wash her skin adverting the tender, purple spots he oh so _loathes_ inflicting upon her every time he forces her into bed with him, Regina vows she would never be as weak as Maleficent, her hands clenching under water as a young girl with a better fate than hers puts just a bit of pressure in one of her sore, barely healed ribs.

So, in this version still Regina throws herself willingly into Rumple’s arms. Her magic grows stronger as it also grows darker, and one deceivingly beautiful afternoon she is finally able to stop thinking about Rocinante for a while and reach inside a horse’s chest, take out its heart, she holds it in her hand and watches it pulse there for a while before taking a deep breath and crushing it to dust. Now, Regina Mills was The Queen, but she was still so very young, so as she breaths heavily, feeling the weight of the remaining ashes of the animal’s heart on her hand and trembling because of it, her magic decides there, hearing Rumple’s cackle, is not where she wants to be.

She opens her eyes and finds herself in front of a fireplace, she recognizes it as the only room she could ever feel almost safe in after she was dragged out of her home. Maleficent lowers her book and looks at her quizzically. “Your Majesty, I’m pleasantly surprised”, she stands to bow but Regina holds up her left hand and slowly dusts off her right one against her riding pants. Mal has not lived all her unknown years to not know a lady in distress so she moves to lead Regina to a seat and pours her tea, looks at her amiably. They both choose to ignore the clattering of the cup against the china under it as Regina moves to take it and lays it back down, she clears her throat and says “You seem well”, she takes a cursory glance around her and smiles shakily at the spotless surfaces, Mal nods and says “Thanks to you. And I’ve greatly improved my pantry also”

It had been roughly three winters after Mal had met Regina and when she had left Mal’s castle the dragon recently awoken nearly departed with her, it was not often that Mal got visitors and only after the look of distaste on the Queen’s face Mal realized the pitiful state her castle was in. Mal had decided to not let her near death experience be for naught, even if the young queen chose not to heed her advice her own situation was salvageable and she chose to focus on that, cleaning up her castle was much easier than cleaning up herself but she made It out of her rough patch. Regina now sits across her, jittery and reeking of Rumpelstilskin and Mal wants to repay the favor.

After very careful wording Mal manages to pry some information out of Regina, the fact that she wishes to learn magic to get rid of Leopold and Snow, the fact that they’re in a trip somewhere and her presence was not required, the fact that she had never killed any living creature before she took that horse’s life. And just as Regina seems to be relaxing, as she grabs a second biscuit and goes to bite into it, the imp materializes in one of her seats as if he has a right to even exist.

He giggles in that characteristic manner, “Now Regina dearie it is a bit rude to leave without saying goodbye, mommy taught you better”, Maleficent stands and picks up her staff, it had been lying around as an afterthought for so long the weight is no longer familiar to her but she hides it well, “I do not have wards put in place because only fools dare enter a Dragon’s den uninvited, they wish to die and I simply fulfill”, they look at each other for what Regina feels is a long, long time before he giggles yet again and twirls as if he’s a child in a field of poppies, his voice is playful when he speaks “This is delightful! What a surprising development! Ladies, we will meet again not so soon”. He leaves and that’s that somehow, through a silent agreement they establish Regina will never go to him again and he never comes to her after that.

Mal gives her the space she needs that day, knows all too well that sometimes all you can bear is the weight of your own thoughts. She expects her to leave of her own volition as she had the last time, a thank you and a goodbye that feels like _less_ somehow even when Mal does not know less than what, but when the moon is high above them Regina still sits in her couch and nibbles at her cheese as Mal reads, she marks her place, closes the book, puts it down in the table between them and looks at Regina kindly, the small woman seems to turn smaller as she takes a deep breath and burrows into the chaise she’s occupying “May I stay here tonight?”

The first time Maleficent teaches her some magic it is a meager spell to light a few candles with flame she conjures in her palm, Regina throws the ball straight to the fireplace and smirks as Maleficent raises an eyebrow and ties her hair back in a ponytail as her clothing shifts from a long gown to something akin riding gear. And Regina only knows what her mother told her and what her mother told her is that men love women and women love men and it gets them killed at the end, so whatever the flutter in her chest is she doesn’t even acknowledge it as she ties back her own hair. They throw attacking spells back and forth well into the afternoon and cool down with a few cups of wine drunk in one balcony that overlooks the land Regina has no actual power over.

And so, almost a year passes in which Regina turns up for a lesson a few times a week when she can squeeze the time away from the court’s gaze. Mal is always prepared, feeds her whatever sweets Leopold deems unfit for a queen that should concern herself with her physique, teaches her new spells, loans her a book of her hoard, tries to gaze less and enjoy more. Because truth is in the pass months she had taken a habit of gazing a bit too long, it was precisely when she revealed her library to Regina that Maleficent realized she’d grown infatuated with her, the young Queen had been so awed she missed the way Maleficent eyes tracked her movements through the room she had never allowed anyone else to enter.

Mal already knows of Regina’s past though and can take an educated guess on her present so it seems nigh impossible for Regina to return her feelings as unguardedly as she’s having them, she hasn’t lived her unknown years without learning to navigate unrequited love either so she doesn’t push and settles down to listen as Regina recounts her latest literary expedition to her and flutters around the library looking for what will catch her eye next. What Mal doesn’t know though is that Regina returns her feelings just fine, but to be fair, Regina doesn’t know that either.

All Regina knows is that every minute she spends in Leopold’s castle she longs to be with her very good friend instead, and that every minute spent with her very good friend is not a minute she dares spend dwelling on old or fresh wounds, and that her very good friend’s books are what keeps her anchored when she’s away from her, and that her very good friend’s magic expertise is very enticing to her, and that her very good friend is mesmerizing with the way she dresses and the way she talks, the way she glides around her castle and the way her blonde hair falls around her shoulders catching the sunlight, the way she’s soft when Regina needs to talk but strong and unyielding when they dare venture down into a village to trade and procure some food from the market.

One summer day Leopold decides Princess Snow White is old enough to find a royal suitor and takes her on a trip to other kingdoms, Regina was much too beautiful for him to parade around outside his lands, he feared another royal might sway her in his favor and he would be plotted against, so she’s left alone in her castle for a few months’ time. It is bliss for her, to pretend she’s asleep and transport to Maleficent’s castle daily, stay a few nights, stop applying the skin-color dusts the handmaidens leave in her vanity after a night with Leopold. Mal watches her smile through a bite of cake and giggle after a particularly witty paragraph of prose, race her unicorn atop a horse she’s never seen in her property before and her heart aches for her.

“How young are you, Regina?” Mal asks her once over supper and Regina laughs “Don’t you mean to ask how old I am?”, Mal nods smiling and raises her shoulders slightly in a shrug she did not have in her body language before that month, Regina answers her swiftly, unguarded “I’m twenty-four. You?”. Mal does not answer knowing Regina asked in jest, she’s made clear dragons are both longeval and unbothered by keeping time, her mood darkens though, quickly realizing Regina was almost a child when she was wed to the King.

They spend the night silently after that, Regina confused as to why her very good friend, her best friend, is not making her usual remarks of the book she wants to discuss or engaging much altogether. When Regina has decided that she will leave and be back the next morning Mal’s eyes find hers for the first time before she asked her age, there’s something in them and Regina moves forward instinctively, nudging herself in Mal’s seat and pulling her closer not really understanding where any of this is coming from. Mal only sighs before speaking out “Where’s your mother, Regina?”, Mal knows of Prince Henry living in the court to _keep an eye on her_ but Regina never mentions her mother, who crushed her love’s heart, who gave her child to a King old enough to be her father; Regina leans back slowly “I… got rid of her”, in this world Cora fell through a mirror just as she had in the other one, Mal nods “Good.”

Regina doesn’t leave that night, she didn’t have the intention of leaving when she showed up in the morning and cooked some of the breakfast foods the cook from her father’s kingdom had been teaching her, so after Mal calms down and seems to return to normal she stays, but her curiosity as to why Mal asked her about her mother doesn’t dim and in the middle of the night she walks into Mal’s bedroom and sits in the bed hoping the dragon is awake. Mal opens one eye playfully and smirks at her, lifts her bedding up for Regina to get in, she shakes her head, “It is summer and you run hotter than a fire, I will not fall for your trickery and scorch to death”, Mal laughs and turns to her side to look at Regina who at least settles more comfortably against the headboard, the blonde smiles up at her “What do you wish to talk about this late at night, Your Majesty?”

One thing leads to another and by the time the pitch black of the sky turns into a lighter blue Regina has succumbed to her back’s whims and lies on the bed atop the bedding besides Mal looking up at the bed’s ceiling and they’ve discussed all they can about childhoods and dragons’ culture, Daniel and crushed hearts, snotty little princesses you wish you could put to sleep eternally but you _don’t._

In another version of this story Regina had never had one person to talk, to help her process, to keep her sane, in another version of this story Maleficent had been her friend in name only, to cackle ominously over wine and cheese and distract her from her own dark heart, and even then, she’d been her greatest friend. But in this version of the story she’s not alone and as the sun rises and filters through the open window she remembers the way it always shines almost unnaturally through Mal’s hair and _has_ to turn to lie on her side to catch it first thing in the morning for the first time. Mal looks at her with such calm in her eyes, the rage of the night before as she explained Cora’s child rearing methods forgotten, Regina can only smile at her outrage, no one had ever cared so much about her, not even her father that never dared stop the abuse; Mal returns her smile tentatively and ignorant to the thumping of the blonde’s heart Regina shuffles closer and kisses her.

It lasts for less than five seconds and she rears back embarrassed as Mal’s eyes flutter open slowly, Regina gapes at her, mouth slightly opened and pupils wide and Mal restrains herself from moving forward and kissing her in return because it is obvious she’s regretting the whole situation, Regina makes a move to flee the bed and yammers out an apology but Mal takes her hand and keeps her in place “There’s nothing to be sorry for Regina”.

She manages to coax her into staying for breakfast and telling her handmaidens when she goes back that she was ill and got out of bed later than usual, they sit silently through their meal, Regina’s gaze down in her plate missing the longing looks Mal threw her way every few minutes. The dragon was convinced that was the last time she would see the woman but couldn’t interfere or say anything to spare herself the pain, it was Regina’s decision, she knew she was so far gone that everything always would be Regina’s decision and there’s nothing she could do to go against her wishes.

But Regina’s turmoil was more about the fact that she didn’t know how this was, how she felt so light after what had transpired, she had thrown herself into Daniel’s arms with abandon after little over a week of knowing him and it had taken her over a year to get to a point where she was merely confused about Maleficent’s role in her life? She looks up sharply and doesn’t quite take time to decipher the look in her very very good friend’s look “Is there a book for this…us?”, Maleficent laughs softly and relaxes down into her chair “I’m sure we can find one for you, My Queen”

Regina takes three days to carefully read through the book and make a choice, that’s what Mal thinks at least, but instead Regina takes two hours to read the book and the two days and 22 hours are what passes while she tries to stay away from Mal fearing her own feelings, the repercussions of them. Regina sits stiffly in a garden inside palace grounds and considers taking a potion to just forget about the dragon, she is married to the King and betraying him would surely mean her head and Mal’s, and of course love is weakness; Rumpelstilskin had taken one look at them and called them an interesting development, Regina had not forgotten that and is sure whatever comes after this is what he meant.

But a bird sweeps above her and the way its wings flap in the wind remind her of the few times she’d seen Mal fly and before she knows it, unbothered by who might see her, her magic takes her away in a cloud of smoke. Mere seconds after she appears in the room Mal shows in the doorstep and rushes in, stopping a few feet away, once again, it is Regina who closes the space between them. She airs her doubts and Maleficent soothes her in-between kisses and they reach a peace they have both never met before.

In this new, improved version of Regina Mills’ story she does not have it in her to get rid of Leopold using a genie but she does have a much more powerful creature deeply infatuated with her. One night Regina appears in Mal’s chambers in a thin sleeping gown, late and when the moon is high, she stays above the bedding again but settles in her spot against the blonde instantly, sinking into her embrace. They kiss, slowly and languidly and eventually Regina finds herself further into the well-sized bed with Mal looming over her, the woman traces her features and continues to caress the side of her neck and Regina, who’s never know the touch of a lover, melts further into the mattress as Maleficent redraws her path with her mouth after taking the shudder as an invitation, she undoes one or two of the ties holding the nightgown closed before Regina remembers herself and stands up hastily from the bed.

Mal chuckles and lets herself fall in her bed, face down and hair sprawled all around her, she cares little to do anything Regina doesn’t want to do so she’s far from mad, she rolls around to open her eyes and call Regina back to her, she has her back to her while trying to make the fabric find its place on her body again, a fraction of her skin is exposed though and Maleficent sits up sharply and fists the fabric in her hand before Regina can cover herself properly, “He hits you”, Regina makes an strangled noise and stills her movement “I’m sorry, I can’t heal the ones I can’t see fully”

The Kind King they deemed him, he did not flay his subjects like his father did, he did not send his men to raid their homes like his grandfather did, he treated his subjects with respect when he held audiences, and here he was beating his reluctant Queen when she dared say no to his advances. It was a sad truth that most women were forced to lie with men they did not desire, Mal was often saddened by Regina’s fate in that aspect but there were ways he could mitigate the situation, he could have showed some _respect,_ trying to have a male heir did not require blows.

Mal reaches for Regina and tells her to lie down, heals the bruises marring her skin and kisses the spots softly afterwards, Maleficent, mistress of evil, had left her ways behind after one afternoon spent with Regina but some people… some people worked hard to earn a painful death. Pulling Mal out of her mood and with nothing else to hide Regina pulls her closer and kisses her softly in thanks, guiding her hands back to her neck where she’d had them earlier when she recoiled, Mal halts for a moment “Regina, are you certain?” “I do not know what to do very well but I want it to be out of love at the very least once”

After that Mal takes as a habit circling Leopold’s castle every night, the guards (And hopefully Leopold) catch up and start doubling their numbers, pointing their meager spears at her, and when Regina finds her way to her again Mal checks her skin as she undresses her carefully and she finds it harder to let her go back to that Castle after the glimpses of her life she’s caught in her rounds. Leopold takes Regina to bed several times and Maleficent retreats higher into the sky while it happens, fearing she might not be able to control herself if she bears witness to it, all but one night after Regina had spent the afternoon with her.

She is in a good mood, stands in her window watching the dragon pass back and forth playfully and smiles at her, and when Leopold comes she does not want to go meekly, his hand falls against her face harshly and Maleficent flies towards the window, turning as she passes by it and landing in two human legs.

He shouts for guards to come but Maleficent pushes him harshly against the stone wall, his eyes widen in fear as she pins him by the throat “Apologize to her”, he only pants so she pulls him to her and slams him again, his head hitting the stone “Apologize for everything”, he spits at her and turns to look at Regina, his face darkens when she isn’t cowering but healing her wound swiftly instead, he squirms in Mal’s hold “You witch! I should have known! Just like your vile mother! With the same dried-up cunt!”, Maleficent closes her hand around his flesh and he starts coughing, she lifts him up easily and drags him with her towards the window “Have a wonderful night, love”. The next morning Regina sits stiffly in a garden with Snow lazily reading a book sitting in the grass and with her head in her lap, no one had alerted the princess of his father’s situation, always kept in the shadows created by the privilege of childhood, so she jumps surprised when the dragon lands before them and drops the burnt carcass of what used to be her father.

She is no murderer in this version of the story, but Regina Mills has still gone through enough she could have easily been, it was just Mal who made a difference with her presence and it was Mal who had tarnished her hands to get her out of that castle. It was still a cruel world and he still deserved to die, so Regina sees nothing to forgive or get over as she looks at the charred remains of her abuser and the tears falling out of her step-daughter’s eyes. She’s still in love with Mal and she suspects she will be for the rest of her life.

So, as it stands Princess Snow White and the loyal subjects of her Kingdom still end up fearing her step-mother but this time because she has a dragon at her beck and call. She does not run because Regina does not chase her out, free as she is Regina simply leaves the castle one night with all her things packed in a nifty bigger-on-the-inside bag.

And so, Queen Snow White ascends to a seat she never prepared for, still un-wed because her father’s love for her was big enough she would be allowed to marry who her heart chooses. But since true love can’t ever be stopped, on the night of her inaugural ball Princess Abigail walks in with a Prince and leaves empty-handed. David and Snow did not depend on her running, they didn’t depend on her developing survival skills and him running away from his brother’s father, all it took is them finding each other in any stage.

And as King George and Queen Snow discuss their kingdoms’ upcoming merger Regina settles in Mal’s castle, she lets her father go back to his own Kingdom, hires a few villagers that don’t know who Mal and her are to build a stable and reserves a few squared feet to plant some roses, sets up a room to practice her potions and manages to sneak her cook out of Snow’s palace and into her own, finds someone to build the woman and her family a small cabin on the grounds and uses her husband as a handy man all around the place. Mal lets her make a home out of the pile of stones she’s been living in and at night when they wind up in bed clothed or otherwise they deal with their demons, plan for a future and more often than they like remember Rumpelstilskin’s words hanging over their heads.

A blissful year goes by and then the Queen is finally to be wed. Regina retreats into her preferred chaise with a cup of tea and a book and Mal circles her until she talks just as she had circled the castle all those moons ago. She dwells on how she didn’t have the luxury to pick a husband of her liking and on how she can’t take a wife either, on how Snow’s taxing methods are lax at best and on how she was only six years younger than her and thus never really her child, on how she still wins by getting all she could possibly have and about how her womb probably is a non-hostile environment for a child. Mal retreats for only a minute and returns with a book in her hand, opened, she bows playfully and lays it on Regina’s lap “Your former Majesty, you need only ask”, Regina beams at Mal from her seat, it is not the Kingdoms she will rule what make Regina envy Snow but the way she’s always had a loving family, even when her father died she had an untarnished image of him and she was alone for less than a month’s time, she was just a bit too lucky, that’s all.

And as soon as the closest full moon they are on their bedroom, reciting the spell for people that are hindered somehow to try for a child. It goes as well as expected, which is very well, because no results will be seen in months anyways so the only expectation was for them to be thoroughly spent after the night ended. Mal can feel it worked though and she tells Regina so when the sun wakes them the next morning, she springs out of the bed immediately and rushes to make her breakfast apparently, Mal chuckles and lets herself fall back in bed closer to the spot Regina just vacated, she always thought it was damn near impossible to have what she and Regina had. Unknown to them was that that very same morning Charming was _butchering_ a romantic breakfast for his wife in his castle as well.

“Henry if it is a boy”, Mal laughs at her “For the last time, it won’t be a boy and her name is Lilith”, They enjoy sitting in front of the fire in winter sharing a seat but Mal’s new size doesn’t allow for that these days so Regina pulls close another armchair, tucks the ends of the blanket covering Mal tighter around her before sitting and smirks “And Henry if it is a boy”

Across the land, Rumpelstiltskin sits on a cell on the dungeons of Queen Snow’s palace for sins unrelated to Regina Mill’s life. In this version of the story his filial relationships went very much the same, his wife abandoned him and his son for a pirate promising excitement and in turn he gained a great power and abandoned his son for it. The Dark One knows there are many ways to open a portal to many realms but the land without magic is a tricky one, every magical object that could aid him was in the hands of someone he has wronged so his only option is the dark curse. From the moment he saw Cora he knew she was the key for someone to cast it and even when it was unclear in the eye he had a hunch it would be one of the daughters, it wasn’t so easy to corrupt Regina but now that she had something to lose the path seemed clear before him once again, he would see his son soon if all went according to plan.

Down in the dungeon David looks at him warily and from a distance “You had me called”, the imp giggles “Yessssss I will go straight to the issue! Just know it’s about little, unborn, Princess Emma”. He weaves a tale of bitter destitute queens breeding with dragons, brewing a child made from pure darkness to battle the one made from pure light, they were conceived in the same full moon and will be born on the same moonless night, and after they clash one of them will certainly die. It was mostly a lie, for once Regina was not bitter about losing the throne in this alternate lifetime, nor was her daughter made with dark magic, the primary ingredient for the spell was of course love (and of the true variety), Lily was not meant to battle anyone and when she inevitably clashed with Emma it would be over their wooden toys after their parents had sat down and cleared the air with a much-needed talk. But the lie makes Charming squirm and he runs up to his wife to share the news.

The blue fairy recommends they send a child to magic-less realm, it’s the only way to make sure Emma and her never meet. In this alternate story, Emma is no savior and thus has no town of Storybrooke to save, there is no curse looming to Snow’s knowledge and thus the child they send away does not have to be hers. So, their crafty plan is to wait until the children are born and then take Lilith and throw her in the carved tree to fend to herself in another land and since two people may go maybe they’ll throw her dragon mother in there since to their knowledge Regina poses no actual threat, in this alternate story too all characters have many sides.

And then, on a night when the moon hides from the light the sun wants to shed on her, both Lilith and Emma are indeed born. One is slipped in a warm wool blanket with her name embroidered on it with purple thread and the other still in the dragon form she was born in is tucked under her mother’s wing while her other mother guards their sleeping forms. Regina knows more than the average witch of dragon’s magical properties and never in her life had a coincidence been just that, the fact that Snow White too was to give birth anytime soon was not comforting.

It took a week for Snow to regain her strength apparently because on that day she appears in the heart of Regina and Maleficent’s castle just as the former was swaddling Lily down for a nap. The blue fairy’s magic is not only glittery but somehow loud in a metaphysical way and without them having made a sound Regina and Mal sense them both and rush into the room coming from separate doors and find them frozen in place and wide eyed. Regina smirks in Mal’s way “Darling, how do you like those wards you thought I should not have bothered with?” “Don’t gloat my love. It’s unbecoming”, Snow’s face contorts and she whispers poorly to her companions “Regina’s a witch as well”

It takes only a few hours of them still caught in the stasis spell from the neck down, watching them have supper, and then they break and share what Rumpelstilskin told them. Mal frowns and calls forth her staff to approach them, focused on the fairy trying hard to win their staring contest “And your little moth here advised you to take a babe from her parents and send her to another realm, just like that?” Charming’s eyes advert her gaze and Snow hangs her head in shame, Mal scoffs “You’ve picked up your father’s legacy of being scum Your Majesty, I’d wager he’d be proud”, after that she looks up again and dares spit Mal’s way struggling against the magic as she sneers out “Don’t you speak of my father, beast”, it’s only Regina’s hand in Mal’s arm that defuses the situation.

In their chambers, Regina lies Lilith’s sleeping form on top of Maleficent’s chest where she’s laid down in the bed, they left their guests completely suspended by the fireplace. Mal instantly calms and strokes her daughter’s head through the thick layer of dark brown curls she’s gotten from Regina. “Darling, I’m going to hurt them… if these children are meant to battle then they will never rest until they have taken her from us and slayed her. Nothing else will do, Regina”, the former queen reaches for their daughter’s foot, small against her hands when she’s in this form at least, she frowns “It doesn’t have to come to harm, give me time, we can find a way” “They won’t give you time”

It is a restless night for Regina, Maleficent clutches to Lilith with one arm and to her with the other, and in her mirror Snow dozes off and Charming keeps guard while the fairy struggles against magic she can’t undo. The land without magic they had said and Regina understands easily how it is the best place one can go to avoid the weight of a prophecy, a one-way trip; she ponders her options and comes up with what she wishes is a suitable plan. Regina Mills has read a lot of Maleficent’s books in her free time and she knows the fairy might provide them with anything they want, something powerful enough to carry all three of them, there’s no need of separation.

She explains this to Maleficent the next morning as she changes Lily’s cloth she soiled in the night; the blonde woman stills her hand with hers and raises an eyebrow “Us?” Regina shrugs and looks away from the intense gaze “They have a kingdom to rule over, we only have each other and a few books you’ve kept around”, Regina tries for a smile but Mal’s expression encourages no mirth and the brunette picks up the child and holds her tightly feeling the warmth emanating from her “Love I don’t want to see her die to the hands of Princess Emma, and I don’t want to see her kill her either”

Mal retreats towards one of the windows and turns to look at the landscape, Lily’s cheeks seem to be glowing from the inside and from the week they’ve been a family Regina knows to hold her away from her hair as one small bout of fire comes out of Lily’s mouth erratically, Regina approaches Mal and cpntinues “We don’t have to deal with this at the very least”, Mal doesn’t chuckle at the joke, instead she turns back slowly to look at Regina with saddened eyes “She’s a dragon, I am a dragon, you’re a magnificent caster. What are we without magic?” “A family Mal, that gets to _live_ and grow old together, we’ll be a couple of hags with a child in that realm, no royals, fairies or dark ones dropping by unannounced”

Mal agrees eventually to the plan Regina spins and they settle in to have breakfast and even offer some to their guests and they convince themselves it’s not poisoned and are allowed to sit on the table still constricted significantly but able to eat, Regina explains this new plan and hopes they’ll understand they’ve won and will simply cooperate. It is only the blue fairy that seems to not want to help. Mal draws circles on Regina’s hand as she tries to reason with the fairy but to no avail, the woman looks at their intertwined hands and scoffs “And why would I help you? And this dreadful creature”, Regina takes a deep breath when Mal clenches her hand almost painfully “You owe me at least the courtesy of allowing my family to go together to where you intend to banish my child” Blue betrays no positive response and Regina squirms frustrated “What did I ever do to you?”

If we wish to be consistent characters must stay roughly the same in all spins of the tale so in this one too the Blue Fairy was allowed a little too much say over which kids get help, so she sits in front of Regina and Mal and a baby in a small crate still prejudiced and completely reticent of them. Regina presses “I’ve read about how you work, one wishes upon a star and if you really need aid a fairy is dispatched, you need to believe and that’s it. Most people don’t believe in old magics but it was the only hope I had, I believed with all my might and I wished every night and you never came. Why?” The fairy chuckled “Your mother is a foul woman, why would you be any different, or that unnatural spawn of yours?” Regina stands from the table and the rest of the occupants watch concerned as her body wounds itself tightly like a bowstring before it’s released, she hisses “I was a _child,_ she would strike me, starve me, harm me with magic and you did nothing! I was innocent!” Snow’s pitiful, knowing stare made Regina lean in and point to her “And then this brat’s father violated me, night after night, he beat me for years, you knew this, you were regularly in the castle and after all you see everything you wish to see, and still you did nothing! and now you can’t spare a meager portal spell to _finally_ get rid of me?”

Snow gasps in her place, understanding finally dawning on her, she tamps down the urge to cry and raises her head imperially “Do it.”, no one had bother telling her what her bridal duties would be either but David handled it with aplomb and soon enough they were having fun with it and she highly doubts Regina had that experience with her father. The fairy whips to look at her with a raised eyebrow and Snow meets her gaze “Spare no detail, prepare them and provide them with the portal. I am your Queen, it is an order”

Snow doesn’t apologize, in fact she doesn’t meet Regina’s eyes after that afternoon, but she ensures that the blue fairy does as she was told and in the morning before they conjure the portal Charming stumbles in the forest clearing with a knitted blanket with Lilith’s name and it feels like the closest thing to a goodbye they will get, it’s winter in the enchanted forest and it could be winter in the land without magic and dragons don’t have much means for staying warm past the very fire that runs in their veins so they’ll need it.

And simply like that, leaving what could count as several lifetimes behind Regina, Maleficent and their daughter find themselves in a similar clearing but it is clear they’re no longer in the Enchanted Forest or any realm they know anything about. They have dressed and packed for the occasion so as Regina takes the scenery Mal finds the nearest log and plops down putting her head atop one hand. Regina gazes at her softly and kneels before her holding her hand with a very calm Lily in one arm “Mal do you feel unwell?” “You’d do well to recall I have lived without magic and the dragon already… do you feel unwell” “Empty, is all” “Yes.”

They camp for two nights and feed off the land until a kind man approaches them, he’s build like a smith and has hair to match the part, dressed in strange garments and carrying all kinds of weird trinkets. It is Regina who leaves the tent to meet him first. He flashes some kind of magic wand her way and light hits her face as he speaks “Hello ma’am, I am Sheriff Keller, someone reported some strange people roaming around here but you are just doing a bit of camping huh?” Regina threw a disarming smile his way and called out for Mal, she motioned to them “A sheriff! Yes, we are camping here, my name is Regina and this is Mal, and our daughter”, he scratched his head with the end of the light contraption “Lesbians huh?”, Regina frowns and turns to Mal who shrugs slightly, she looks at him with a confused expression “Excuse me? Could you repeat that?” He scrambled around almost tripping with a branch “Sorry, we’re not intolerant or any of that, there’s just not many in this town… you’re not from around here, let me show you to the town”

They arrive to the small sheriff station after a very distressing car ride and a woman that identifies herself as “A lesbian too” and apologizes for her partner helps them get settled when they aren’t forthcoming with the information she requires. They spend the night at the station and next day in the morning she accompanies them to a pawn shop where the man behind the counter whistles at all the jewelry they unload and is unable to stifle them under the deputy’s gaze, they go to a diner and have a meal and she leads them to a hotel to rent a room for a small time and before she goes her way Mal stops her with a question “Is there a library around here?”. They each read their weight in books by the time the librarian seems forced to kick them out, she sees their eagerness and reluctantly allows them to take a few tomes with them with the promise that it will only be this one night. And so, reading a book for all their questions they learn to navigate the new world they’re in.

And as Lily grows in this land Emma does in hers and Rumpelstilskin paces in his cell waiting for something that seems to never be coming, the fairies magic prevents him from seeing much and when he asked Charming and Snow how they had dealt with their prophecy issue they refused to answer like Maleficent had told them to. He still needs to see his son though so he needs to know if somewhere out there Regina is desperate to go to the land without magic, he expects her to be indeed, all he has to do is plant the idea for a dark curse and he will be on his way. Thankfully for them no one seems fit to release him from his jail, many lifetimes will pass before after the currently living go no one remembers why the funny little man is still in his cell, before the fairies leave the mine empty of dust and he’s left there for any idiot to stumble in and break him out.

Now, it can’t be all puppies and rainbows for them in 1983’s Maine, they find the need to fake a paper trail, learn past basic math and buy bottle warmers for Lily’s bottles that have a nifty cap that resembles a nipple. They take it day by day and the mistrust of these small-town people never really fades, but they do their best. But eventually they’re settled in and part of the small community; Lily starts pre-school, they find jobs to earn modest paychecks, and they go to bed each night without worrying about curses or imps, just what to cook next with this land’s strange ingredients.

So, as it stands Regina Mills has no power and no wealth, but as soon as it is legally possible she has a wife, a daughter and even a small dog they named Draco, partly because of Mal’s love for constellations, partly because in Greek mythology it seemed to had guarded a tree of golden apples and completely because they were a family of nerds. Regina Mills knows no loneliness in the land without magic but she still chooses to adopt a son when their daughter turns ten, there’s still much love to spare; in this planet earth, there’s not one child that's a descendent of Snow White or of Rumpelstiltskin so fate settles for giving her a blonde boy aged five whose name is Henry as well. And life goes on, all five of them move to New York city later, see as much of the world as their limited budget allows them, Mal revels on planes and paragliding every few months to feel the wind against her and Regina throws herself into cuisine with abandon, often they watch Disney movies and explain to their children why they’re inaccurate, they also find a few people that have trickled in from their realm into this one and take comfort from spending time with them, partaking in the little bits of magic this world’s poor atmosphere allows.

  
In this alternate story Snow, Charming and Emma lived a peaceful life, Rumpelstilskin was imprisoned for a much longer time and so Belle was left to live her life as well, Baelfire grew into Neal Cassidy and did his own time in a minimum-security jail before turning his life around, Henry Mills as we know him was never born but another one was around nonetheless and Maleficent and Lily didn’t part ways. But most importantly Regina Mills is still Regina Mills, but she was never the Evil Queen.


End file.
